Chapter 157

Could it be that "God" was going to publicly reveal the secret of divinity here? To tell mortals how to become beings possessing divinity?

"God" did not play coy, nor did He act like a riddle-monger; He spoke in a calm tone:

"First, all things in the world have their origin, just as tracing a river upstream will eventually lead you to its source."

"This principle applies to all things in the world, to all living beings and matter within the universe."

"The researchers of this world call this source the "Imaginary Tree"."

"The "Imaginary Tree" is the sum of all dimensions and realities, the origin of all things; all creations and ancient gods were born from it."

As expected, the Foundation had researched the "Imaginary Tree" and knew it was the origin of all things in the universe... Was this knowledge directly told by divinity, supreme divinity, or was it discovered by the Foundation's researchers...

Welt Yang's fingers tapped rapidly on the keyboard, creating a new entry in the Data Bank, adding the research results of himself and another universe regarding the "Imaginary Tree."

His brown eyes reflected the dense text. After reviewing it several times, he was certain that the content he added was richer and more detailed than what the Foundation had described.

A strange sense of competitiveness had increased.

Hopefully, the Foundation's research wouldn't stop there... Welt Yang thought calmly.

When he left, the Honkai civilization hadn't even been able to leave the solar system, yet they had already stepped into the realm of the "Imaginary Tree." A hegemonic civilization like the Foundation, which spanned galaxies or even the universe, shouldn't have such shallow understanding.

At the very least, they should have some understanding of the more essential parts of the "Imaginary Tree."

"The "Imaginary Tree"... is it the "Tree of Existence"?"

Himeko chewed on "God's" words, feeling that there might be a certain connection between the two.

The Aeon of "Trailblaze," Akivili, left the isolated world of Pegana, constantly trailblazing the unknown boundaries of the universe, attempting to find the end point of the Tree of Existence. Their fate ended due to an accident.

The Lord of "Elation" climbed the high branches of the "Tree of Existence." He glimpsed the coldness of the vacuum, the mechanical operation of the stars, and the meaning of all things giving way to nothingness.

Are these two the same tree?

Or does the "Imaginary Tree" contain the "Tree of Existence"?

"God's" words continued:

"And above that, there is an even greater tree."

"Its name is the "Tree of Knowledge," and all civilizations were born from It."

"But the "Tree of Knowledge" is not the origin; It was planted by two conceptual beings of higher status..."

"The first is the fire before creation, the embodiment of kindness and benevolence, one of the supreme divinities, the "Primordial Fire"."

"He created all things in the universe from the primordial void, including all time and space;"

"He is a god who is close to humanity, holding the power of the poles with the "Evil Beast"."

He pulled out the thoughts of those who knew such secrets of the world, threw them on the ground, and then shattered them with even more secret knowledge.

"What?!"

"Wait, I couldn't even imagine the "Imaginary Tree," what are the "Tree of Knowledge" and the "Primordial Fire"?"

"What is the "Evil Beast"? And what is the power of the poles?"

"The fire before creation, the embodiment of kindness and benevolence... who can understand such a description? What is the difference between the fire before creation and the fire now?"

"There must be a difference. Fire is plasma, but how the hell could there be plasma before creation!"

"I thought the "Imaginary Tree" was already the truth of the universe, but it turns out there are experts, and there are experts beyond the "Tree of Knowledge." Two beings at once. Are there experts beyond these two beings?"

"Refuse nesting dolls, thank you."

"Did you notice? "God" called the two who planted the tree "conceptual beings." Could this be the difference between supreme divinity and divinity? Divinity still has a physical form, but supreme divinity has already turned into an abstract concept, and concepts are eternal and indestructible."

The calm words fell into Welt Yang's mind, no different from a bolt from the blue.

Welt Yang seemed to see an incredibly magnificent tree, born from the most primordial void, growing and strengthening.

Now, he knew everything about the universe, but he felt even more the insignificance of humanity.

This tree had nothing to do with humanity, and it was not a natural existence, but was planted by supreme divinity.

They were conceptual beings that existed before the universe existed, concepts that exceeded the limits of human imagination. They were innate existences, not gods like Aeons who were elevated from acquired existences.

Welt Yang's heart was stirred for a moment. He couldn't help but wonder if it would be better if he didn't know all this.

"Ha... the difference between facts and truth being told by others versus exploring them yourself is really huge."

Welt Yang leaned back in his chair, comforted himself a few times, and his mood returned to calm and relaxation.

He pushed up his glasses, put away his weak expression, and became firm and rational again.

Since "God" had already revealed the truth, the path ahead was clear, and he could walk down it unimpeded.

Clara's eyes were wide open.

It was not that she had never encountered mysterious powers.

In fact, the series of disasters and strange phenomena brought by the "Stellaron" were all related to the mysterious.

For the residents living in the deep water and hot fire of the Underworld, this was common sense they were all too familiar with.

But she had never truly seen, nor had she systematically understood, knowledge related to Aeons.

Mr. Svarog had told her that the Lord Ravagers under the command of "Destruction" could burn galaxies.

After that, the impression of the Lord Ravagers in Clara's heart became an existence more terrifying than the Eternal Freeze.

—The Eternal Freeze might take nearly a thousand years to destroy the civilization on Jarilo-VI, but a Lord Ravager only needed a single thought.

The Aeon of "Destruction" was much more powerful than a Lord Ravager.

As for how much, she didn't know.

Therefore.

When "God" told Clara higher-level "common sense," she only felt that the universe was very wonderful, and there were many powerful beings, perhaps even more powerful than the Aeon of "Destruction."

She still couldn't understand what kind of cosmic mysteries, and secrets beyond the universe, were hidden in the simple words.

In occult research, the truth of the world, which is incredibly precious and difficult for countless scholars to reach in a lifetime.

To the young girl now, it was a novel story, a creation myth told to her by a kind old man with white eyebrows and a white beard.

"And the other one?"

"God's" tone was gentle, just like a true elder, slowly saying:

"The other one is the direct superior of the "Primordial Fire." They are the supreme gods who govern death, supreme divinities, the beings who truly planted the tree."

"They are the "Three Brothers of Death" — "Oblivion," "Destruction," and "Demise," also known as the "Three Yama"."

"They are the darkness after the void and at the time of creation, the end and death of all things, controlling the yin and yang that cover all beginnings and ends, creating the concept of "creation" itself, and can return "nothingness" itself to nothing."

"They rooted the "Tree of Knowledge" — including all its secret paths. All creations originated from this tree, and only after this did the multiverse come into being with the logic of the universe."